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Serendipity
Plot The discovery of the bodies of a newborn and her mother leads to a doctor coming under suspicion. Summary The body of a deceased newborn female is found in a sewer. As the detectives investigate, they soon discover that the mother, Brianna Morris, was brutally murdered in her home with the baby cut out of her body. The investigation leads toward a dermatologist, Dr. Archibald Newlands, whom Brianna claimed was the father of her child. When a paternity test proves that Newlands isn't the father of Brianna's child, it is discovered that his DNA matched a cold rape case involving a young girl. Newlands is later found murdered during his trial and an autopsy shows that he implanted someone else's blood in his arm, which Agent Huang recognizes as a way to "beat" a paternity test. The detectives come to the assumption that whoever's blood it is may be responsible for the cold case Newlands was wrongfully accused of. Newlands faked the blood sample to cover up his role in Brianna's murder, but the false blood implicated him in the crimes of his patient. Meanwhile, Olivia and Elliot butt heads with the new A.D.A., Casey Novak. After the detectives learn the identity of the real killer from the blood in Newlands' arm is revealed to be one of his patients, Peter Nestler, they investigate his apartment to try to find another victim that was kidnapped, but find no sign of him or the girl. Novak, who tagged along to see if she could handle this sort of thing, notices clues that the rapist is a fisherman and Benson finds the location and name of a boat owned by the rapist. They catch him and Stabler repeatedly shoves him under the water in an attempt to force him to reveal the location of the victim. He fails, but Novak finds and rescues the little girl herself: she checks a cooler the man was carrying with him when they caught him and finds the little girl inside it still alive and apparently unharmed. Novak carries the girl to safety as Benson and Stabler arrest the rapist for the rapes, kidnapping, and Newlands' murder. Later, Novak approaches Branch, believing she can't handle this job. However, he believes otherwise and tells her that she will understand eventually, revealing that how the case affected her showed him that she's exactly the right person for the job. Cast Main cast * Christopher Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler * Mariska Hargitay as Detective Olivia Benson * Richard Belzer as Detective John Munch * Diane Neal as A.D.A. Casey Novak * Ice-T as Detective Odafin Tutuola * B.D. Wong as Dr. George Huang * Dann Florek as Captain Donald Cragen Recurring cast * Peter Hermann as Defense Attorney Trevor Langan * Fred Dalton Thompson as D.A. Arthur Branch * Tamara Tunie as M.E. Melinda Warner * Audrie J. Neenan as Judge Lois Preston * Greg Vaccarello as Officer Galloway Guest cast * Jack Gilpin as Ron Wolcott * Barbara Garrick as Kelly Wolcott * Dan Ziskie as Dr. Curtis * Caralyn Kozlowski as Mrs. Newlands * Marylouise Burke as Curious Woman * Rebecca Wisocky as Marcy Cochran * Martin Donovan as Dr. Archibald Newlands * Joel Garland as Building Manager * Karen Mason as Ms. Giddens * Anna George as Josephine * Alexander Tufel as Peter Nestler * Jolie Peters as Molly Stratton * Nick Sullivan as Dr. Dean Kern * Don Puglisi as Assistant * Paulina Gerzon as Alicia Hahn * Bonnie Rose as Carol Lucero * Dan Mahoney as Neighbor #2 * Carol Maillard as Secretary * Edwin Briscoe as Uniform Officer #2 * Anne L. Nathan as Volunteer #1 * Olivia Crocicchia as Courtney Jones References *Atlanta, Georgia *Baltimore *Brianna Morris *Emily Rose *Scotland Quotes Background information and notes * This episode marks the first appearance of ADA Casey Novak, who replaces Alexandra Cabot after the latter's apparent death. It is not, however, the first appearance of Diane Neal - she previously appeared in the episode Ridicule. * In the episode Detective Stabler asks ADA Casey Novak if they've met before, probably a reference to her previous character in Ridicule. * This episode also marks the first appearance by Paulina Gerzon, who would later return as Katie Nicholson in the Season 9 episode Savant. * The episode was based on Dr. John Schneeberger. * Goof: When Dr. Warner first extracts the tube, the sutures are in the middle. When she holds it up for the detectives in the next frame, the sutures are at one end. Episode scene cards Category:SVU episodes Category:Crossover episodes